Charlotte Country Day School - Postscript Yearbook (Charlotte, NC)

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aa task that lasted through several years on our new Carmel Road campus. Perhaps the school House system needs some expla- nation. Mr. Booker brought this to Country Day. House :systems are ancient and traditional elements of most private schools. They aim to foster school spirit. Pell I-louse!Harris House provided the school with a reason- :able standard and with equal competition when it was too young and small to compete with other schools. ln 1955, David L. Howe became Headmaster and Mr. James G. Cannon became affiliated with the Board. lt was a powerful duo, and Country Day was on its way as far as academics and enrollment were concerned. Our highest grade was the ninth, and we were ready to expand. We were outgrowing the Sardis Road plant, so, in 1957 a Ten Year plan was established. At the top, a Board of Managers was formed to work under the Board of Trustees. The Trustees retained control but gave full support to managerial proposals, i. e., that the school should plan to move, build a new campus and -extend its program through the High School years. During Mr. Howe's tenure we: Started the Halloween Parade. Mr. Howe was ada- ment about costumes being original and homemade: no Store broughten outfits . This posed a great problem for young Charles Willard, then in third grade. It seems his mother had brough him an elegant costume in New York. However, fearing the wrath of the headmaster, he nn, 4 f Left: The Halloween parade continues, but costume trends have changed. Above: The Country Day chorus of yesteryear practices. proceeded to remove a sheet from the bed in his par- ents' guest room-cut two holes in it for eyes-and showed up in an original after all! Started Christmas Breakfast: This was meant to be an annual affair held on the day school was to be dis- missed for the Christmas holiday. All students, parents, grandparents, visiting relatives and alumni were invited to have an old-fashioned breakfast consisting of juice, coffee, grits, scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits in the school dining hall and to socialize for as long as they could or would before parting for the holidays. lt was a huge success-a huge undertaking by the Parents' Council, extremely good public relations for the school and was continued when we moved to our present campus. It continued to grow to the point where we were sewing 1500+ people. Started Big Saturday: We have Mrs. James G. Can- non to thank for originating our Big Saturday-a fair, bazaar, fun day-netting much money thanks to the year-round work of the Parents' Council mothers. This money was meant to be used to purchase the extras not covered by the schooI's annual budget. During the years this money has paid for playground equipment, 9 Opening

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Country Day cafeteria. Below: The May Festival was the big event of the year. Above: Students dine in the original Charlotte had grown up enough to offer an alternative to the community for the necessity of sending their sons and daughters away to boarding schools in order to prepare them for college. The late Mr. Allison Pell, Sr., was the first Chairman of the Board. Let's do some more reminiscing: b On th7e Sardis Road campus - do you remem- er . . . . The little tiny building that held one chair, one piano, and one bench where the The Fine Arts piano teach- er, Mrs. Spainhour, conducted piano lessons? When Pell House competed with Harris House in ev- ery area from grades to sports? Mr. Evans' Sports Day where each class chose its own sports in which to compete - there was every- thing from 3 legged races, sack races, hurdles, 100 dash to the Tug-of-War between Pell and Harris at the end of the events - THEN - the fabulous picnic pre- pared by all the grade mothers? The football field that was only 80 yards long. A sus- tained run would get you a touchdown, but if you were stopped on the 5 yd. line, you had to back up 20 yds., Going to the ym with boxing gloves and a referee to settle matters i you got caught fighting? If you were a little girl, do you remember having to have the sashes sewn back on your dress each night after playing horses and using them for reins? The Father-Son-Mother-Daughter Softball games? Mora Copsesg she was school secretary, mother, nurse, busi- ness manager, bus driver, bell ringer and receptionistg it has taken about ten people to replace her in our new regime ? Ma Bates' food served family style where the teachers ate with the students and you had to eat some of everythingg why did she always have squash and creamed tuna on the same day? The football banquet when the speaker for the eve- ning was a man who had played in the Rose Bowl the year someone ran the wrong way for a touchdown? He said that wasn't nearly as funny as the man who punted a ball and it exploded in mid-air lin the same gamell? The Benefit Bridge Parties with zillions of door prizes sponsored by the Parents' Council mothers? Formation of a school library? The Charlotte Bookmobile used to come every two weeks and teachers had books for extra reading in their classrooms-iMarilyn Mills was such a neat librarian, she catagorized hers according to sizel but the school had no central library A plea to parents for books-new or old-went out, and Mrs. Mashburn took on the task of putting together a library, and try again? ' 4 all Opening ll.

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10 Opening proceeds have provided. Below: The Lower School library was an important part of the Learning Center plans. Bottom: Thanks to keen foresight the Lower School building looks as new now as it did when it was built. Top: Typewriters are just some of the necessities Big Saturday nv 43:5 is , I .,9i.:s,,z.tfr'1'i5 ' K WMM-iwmW......,, M. kitchen equipment, computer equipment, memory type- writers and other things too numerous to mention but thoroughly and sincerely appreciated by those who use them. During the summer of 1960 the Board of Managers took a major vote of confidence in Country Day by de- termining to build and move to the Carmel Fload proper- ty. A gift of 30 acres of land by Mr. and Mrs. James J. Harris together with the resources provided in a S480,000 capital fund drive, made the vision a reality. The move to the present campus was accomplished in September, 1960, with the basic buildings necessary: Bray Hall for Lower School, Pell Hall and the Cannon Science Building for Upper School, Barnhardt adminis- tration and library building, Sanger dining hall and Harris gymnasium. Mrs. Haywood, who had joined the school in the spring before the move to the new campus, was appointed Development Director and Enrollment Secre- tary. She has done a yeoman's job in those areas as well as many others tSchool Nurse, receptionist, Sustaining Fund Secretary, etc., etc.i for 20 years now. Along with the addition of an eleventh grade, the tradi- tions of Christmas Breakfast, Big Saturday and May Day moved to the new campus. Mr. Howe was a great devotee of the May Pole Dance and was often disap- pointed in the performance of said dance twhich can be very complicatedi by young children. As the great deci- sion-maker one year he decreed that the faculty would perform the May Pole Dance and so it was! There were several casualities the rehersals by the volunteers t?i,